Articles

The fundamental organizational structure of Cooperative living is founded on the tenets of self-communal governance. As the membership depends on its elected Board Members to effectively oversee the conduct and affairs of the Cooperative, it is unfathomable to think that a Board Member would do anything during the course of his/her duties as a Board Member that would jeopardize the Cooperative and its Members. However, it is unfortunately becoming more common to hear about a Board Member going “rogue.”

Many of us have recently spent time cleaning and organizing our homes during the shelter in place/stay at home orders. This may have even included organizing your most vital documents. Members living in a cooperative have an extra vital document to keep in a safe place and that is his/her membership or stock certificate.

With the warmer weather upon us, some cooperatives may consider permitting its members to install awnings on their back patios. Cooperative boards must be mindful that the installation of awnings does come with drawbacks that must be resolved prior any member installing an awning. If a board was desirous to permit its members to install awnings, then the board should contact its cooperative attorney to draft an awning installation policy as well as an installation/alteration form to help mitigate the drawbacks.

Last spring, we provided ideas to Board of Directors on how to keep engaged with your membership during the first wave of COVID-19 cases. As we are navigating through another COVID-19 surge, we would like to provide you with another fun guide of ideas to help your membership continue to stay connected. As a Board of Directors, it is important that you not only keep your membership abreast of cooperative issues, but also continue to keep the morale of the membership up.

The Management Agreement between a cooperative and a management agent outlines the contractual obligations and expectations between the cooperative and the management agent. These contractual obligations define the duties and responsibilities of the management agent for the management and operation of the cooperative. It also provides for the duties and responsibilities of the cooperative corporation, as effectuated through its Board of Directors Equally as important to the management duties and operational provisions in the Management Agreement, so too are the insurance and indemnification provisions.